The present invention relates generally to a mail sorting apparatus, and more particularly to a postal code distinguishing apparatus in which a postal code, as expressed by series of arabic numerals, is distinguished from the other numeric codes appearing on mail articles.
In a postal service, it is a common practice to sort mail articles by making use of the postal codes (or "zip codes") appearing on the mail articles. The postal code is customarily expressed as a series of arabic numerals of predetermined length (i.e., a seven-digit code). In general, the postal code is provided after the "state description" which is arranged on the bottom line in the address description area. One prior art mail sorting apparatus senses any bottom code described on the mail articles as the postal code, and sorts in response to the bottom code. However, in a case where either the postal code is not provided on the bottom line or another code expressing "P.O. Box", "ATTENTION", "TEL" or "PHONE" is provided on the bottom line, this prior art mail sorting apparatus will not sense the true postal code, and thus will sort the mail articles erroneously.